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Brief history

Location description

Project description

Project development process

Key message

References

Brief history

The first railway was built in
Lebanon while it was part of the Ottoman
Empire. The French-established Société des
Chemins de fer Ottomans économiques de
Beyrouth- Damas-Hauran which was granted a
concession in 1891 [1]. In the Beginning of
August 1895 the first train took off from the
port of Beirut to Rayak railway station. In
Rayak, officials from all over Europe and the
region where waiting for the train to arrive
in order to celebrate what it was as the
beginning of the Middle Eastern rail history
[3.1]. In 1912 this railway got connected
with the rest of the Arab world, Europe, and
Africa [2]. It served as a basic mean of
transportation at that time. The railway
became a part of the Intercontinental rail
circle transported people and goods, even
transported famous rulers and their armed
forces.

The arrival of King Faisal of Iraq to the
Rayak Railway Station
[12]

Other than having a big station,
Rayak was famous for having one of the
biggest train factories at that time. It was
well known for designing and reassembling old
steam engines that worked on charcoal to work
on fuel [3.2]. In World War II this factory
was used as a military base in which military
weapons were fixed. At that time a group of
engineers from both the train factory and
Rayak's Military Airbase where assigned to
build airplanes for the French military. Some
of the airplane parts were manufactured and
designed in Rayak's train factory. They were
then taken to Rayak airport to be assembled
to their new chassis, and, Rayak's first
airplanes concurred the sky [3.3]. In 1976
the railway was shut due to the civil war
[1], ending more than eighty-five years of
success and achievements. Thirty-three years
have passed and this institution which is
more than one hundred and fifteen years old
has been silenced, and left to perish through
time.

Workers
inside the train factory of Rayak
[8]

Location description

The city of Rayak is found in
the middle of the Bekaa Valley, between two
of the major touristic cities of Lebanon,
Zahle and Baalbek. This city was once well
known for its military airport, agricultural
laboratories, cinemas, restaurants, schools,
and international military bases. What
brought all that fame and success to the city
was Rayak`s Railway. Rayak Railway is divided
into two parts, the train station and the
Factory. The train station: It is
approximately 35,395 m2, and consists of 9
buildings. A big hotel (The Buffet Hotel),
the stations main building, an office
building, ticketing and communication center,
a military center, a postal station, the
employee lounge, and the Security and keying
office Building [4]. In the Eastern side of
the station there are two rails, the
Straight-Rail and the Curved Rail. The
Straight-Rail which connects the station to
Beirut and to a British military Base in
Terbul was stopped in the nineteen forties.
Whereas the Curved Rail connects the station
to the factory from there to the city of Homs
and to the new Beirut Rail.

Rayak Railway Station in the year 1900
[12]

On the Western side of the station there
is the rail that connects the station to
Damascus. All three rails are sectioned into
seven rails and connected to each other. In
the Northern side of the station five of the
sections are located, three of which were
used for passengers and two for the trans-
aboardment of goods. The two others sections
are located in the southern side of the
station and they were used to redirect
locomotives. The factory: Is approximately
133,430 m2 and consists of forty-eight
buildings which were divided into two basic
units. The storage area, and the factory
[5].The storage area consists of twenty-three
buildings in which one functioned as a
station where imported spare parts were
unloaded, seven hangars where the spare parts
and raw materials were stored, another as an
equipment room, there were three office
buildings, nine storage cabins, a storage
keepers lounge, And a guards cabin.

Workers
Leaving Rayak Rail Factory
[9]

The factory area consists of twenty-five
buildings. One of the buildings is the huge
factory divided into several segments. These
segments were for the melt down of different
metals, a section for tool reparation, the
mechanical machinery division, the main
circuit engine room, a plumbers work shop,
the tracing office, an air compressing room,
the painting center, the brake reparations
section, three foundry segments, and three
assembling segments. The other buildings were
named according to their profession: the
carpentry, the steam and pressure clock
reparation room, the engineer`s offices,
medical clinic, electric plant, locomotive
garage, restaurant, the Dormitories,
transformation center, traction center,
hangar, store head office, employers train
station, keying center, turning blade,
ticketing office, two security towers, and 4
security cabins, stoke fuel center, and
alimentation center.The Northern side of the
factory a rail passing underneath the Baalbek
main road bridge, connects the factory with
Homs and Beirut.The southern side of the
factory, there is a rail that connects the
factory with the main station.

Rayak 2009
[16]

Project description

A considerable of Lebanon's
income is provided by tourism, but still we
lack museums specially those that preserve
and reveal the country's modern history. By
transforming the train stations, and train
factories into one big museum, all the
history and beauty of the location can
attract thousands of tourists from all over
the globe. It could become the biggest train
museum in the region. Rayak railway played an
important role in the country's history, just
like time played a big role on the railways
beauty. What's left of the 110 years old
railway reminisce its glorious past. In an
area which is approximately 170,000 m2 stand
hundreds of metal sculptures taking the forms
of trains, thousands of tools and equipment
which are scattered all over the place, and
big old building surrounded with rails. Lots
of trees have concurred the area some of
which are more than ten meters tall. Also
strange animals have taken refuge in this
station like foxes and owls. Some of the
trains in Rayak lived more than a century.
They are trains that survived the world war
one and two. They carried the stories of
soldiers with their battles, and those of
civilians with their journeys and their love
stories. There are more than thirty
locomotives in the Rayak factory, and
approximately two hundred wagons.

(SLM 1906) at Rayak railway station
[12]

The following chart contains a
list of some of the trains found in Rayak

All over the railway we can find hundreds of
different kinds of tools that were used at
that time. These tools are mostly made of
iron and wood. They were used by the factory
workers for the maintenance of the rails and
the locomotives. Nowadays after the creation
of new mechanical instruments these tools can
be considered antiques and collection items
especially since they haven't been used for
more than three decades. The buildings
located in the railway add a lot of charm to
the location. They were designed by French
architects who built them in the
nineteen-eighties. Scattered all over the
site, these buildings served as hotels
factories and station. Most of them are still
standing and in good condition. Trees and
plants have grown all over the site. Some
have even grown in unexpected location, on
the buildings, inside the locomotives, and
underneath wagons. This has transformed the
railway into a natural park, especially with
the strange birds and animals inhabiting it.
The basic elements are found for the
elaboration of the project. What is left is
the restoration of the location, in order to
provide a secure and clean setting for its
visitors. This would attract tourists from
all over the globe.

Rayak
2009
[16]

Project development process
Transform the train factory and
station into a museum, a process consisting
of various steps. First of all the
construction of a wall-fence is essential in
order to preserve the train tools and
equipments that are scattered all over the
location. This wall could also help in the
control of the visitors and their security.
It is preferable to use a brick wall rather
than a metal fence for privacy of the
location. In the factory we need a wall fence
of approximately 2120 meters long, with two
big train gates and three visitor gates. As
for the Railway station we need 1720meter
long, with two big train gates and two
visitor gates. Because the factory and the
station are more then one kilometer away from
each other, an old train should be restored
to move tourists from the station to the
factory and vise versa. Other than the thirty
two trains found in Rayak, there are many
other old trains found in the stations all
around Lebanon. They can be brought to the
Rayak station in order to preserve them.
These could enrich the train collection
making a museum of approximately eighty
trains. The Lebanese railway also managed the
tramway of Beirut established in the year
1895 [6]. By bringing the remaining tramway
locomotives we would be enriching the
museum's collection to consist of 100 or more
locomotives.

Lebanese Tramway

Beirut Tramway
[13]

Different teams should be assigned to take
care of the museum. A principal should be
assigned to lead the teams. There should be a
team of train engineers, and architects, to
renovate the location in order to reflect the
way it used to look in the past. A team of
landscape designers should be founded to add
life and flora to the location. There should
be a team of mechanics, electricians, and
gardeners to take care of the daily
logistics. There should be a team to take
care of the touristic events, musical
concerts, fashion shows, and many other
events can be organized every year.A
photography contest of the railways old
pictures should be organized, this could help
the museum to collect a photo archive which
could one day help in transforming one of the
empty buildings into a photography museum.
During the civil war railways archives that
were left in the offices got burned. Due to
the situation, many of the railway workers
hid some of the documents in their homes. A
lot of the documents are more than one
hundred years old.Between the documents we
can find old maps, train manuals, tickets,
names of employees with their signatures, and
we can even find letters which where sent and
received by the railway workers. This could
help us understand the history of the railway
and provide evident history of the railway.
Some of the maps and papers could be framed
and exposed to the tourist visiting the
station.

Train
map of MEA
[10]

Schools and universities could
also benefit from this museum cultural
aspects. Field trips could be made for
students from all over Lebanon. This will
introduce them to their countries modern
history. A history they could relate to and
become easily involved. The restoration of
the "The Buffet Hotel" should be done. This
would encourage tourists and provide them
with accommodations. Some of the other
buildings could serve as restaurants too.

Rayak
2009
[16]

Key message

Trains are built by men, but
cites are built by trains. Cities like Rayak
were put on the map due mostly to the railway
activity at the heart of the town. As many
former workers have testified, the railway
was far more than a source of income or mode
of transport. To thousands of workers and
many more passengers and admirers the railway
signified a way of life, full of passion and
pride. The elderly citizens of Rayak still
reminisce about the days when their massive
station and factory were still in service.
Those who once worked in this factory boast
that in those days they possessed the skills
and facilities to renovate and rebuild a
rusty old train in one year, yielding a
gleaming state of the art train engine for
their European costumers. Parts for these
train engines were manufactured there in
Rayak and locomotives were built from the
ground up. The small City of Rayak came to
enjoy great stature. It was a vibrant and
dynamic town, beating to the incessant rhythm
of the countless trains that passed through
its station and factories. With the trains
came development. Apart from its famous night
life, Rayak boasted one of the first movie
theaters in the Middle East as well as great
schools. Moreover the train factory itself
came to serve as a technical school. Students
could visit this school and acquire
certificates in varying fields such as iron
work, plumbing, mechanics, and carpentry. 33
years have passed since the end of the
Lebanese Railway's golden days. Today, those
golden days have turned into a painful color
of rust and decay. With highways overcrowding
and road accidents multiplying continuously,
more than ever, Lebanon is desperately in
need of its railway to ease these conditions.
What does the future hold for these railways?
There Will be nothing to talk about as long
as there is no will to be a part of a bright
past that should live on to become an even
brighter future, tangible for the coming
generations. Preserving past in a museum
could one day open the path into a bright
future. This project could bring back life to
the city of Rayak, offering plenty of job
opportunities. Giving hope to its people, and
preserving a relic that played a major role
in the country's history, in a city which
once inspired the whole region.